A trip to Los Angeles

I went to LA for an extended weekend to attend a graduation and celebrate dad's 65th birthday.


I drove down with the family (8 in the Expedition) and flew back - it's a really long story of how the plans transpired but this was somewhat of a compromise. The drive down was very very very long. I can't believe I agreed to it considering I knew the parental figures would take advantage of the opportunity. I had wanted to borrow a mp3 player from H but was told that I should enjoy the conversation. So I kept borrowing the i-pods from the kids in the back row when I needed to block the parental issues out.


I-pods, hand held games and cell phones have differently made family road trips a whole new experience. Everyone in the car, at one point or another, was in a conversation on their cell.


We arrived in LA at around 10:30 pm (we had left the Bay Area around 4pm) and went out for dinner, after that we went to my sisters place for the night.


On Saturday, my sister and I got an early start and went to pick up a gift for dad's birthday, we decided on a laptop and picked that up.


We headed out to the campus after lunch. We had a lot of time to check out the campus and the surrounding areas given that the graduation was at 6pm. Westwood is the college town around the campus - it has some fun stores, so we walked around there for a bit. Saw this bag at a gift store there - pretty funny.



The graduation was at 6pm and we were to arrive at 5:30pm. Surprisingly enough the whole caln was actually on time - early even. We were seated well before the start of the ceremony. The ceremony was in the basketball stadium on campus - it was huge - pictured below. The program was well planned to keep people engaged and the whole thing took less that 2 hours - they were incredibly efficient in getting the grads up on stage with 2 announcers calling the names.



We went to dinner after the ceremony to a restaurant called El Cholos, it was a very nice place and the food was very good as well. There we celebrated both the graduate and my dad's birthday. My sister had picked up 2 cakes and saffron ice cream for desert. All in all it was a great celebration and everyone seemed to have had a good time.

On Sunday we all went to lunch to celebrate father's day and after that everyone went on their way. The Bay area contingent started their drive back. I went back to my sister's place with her and her DH. We vegged for a while and then went for a movie - saw Ocean's 13. While the movie wasn't on my to watch list, I was surprised I did enjoy it. I didn't much care for Ocean's 12.

Monday my sister went to work and I hung around her place with her dog. We played ball for a while - he is such a good dog. Everytime I threw the ball, he would bring it back and sit with it like in the photo. When I played ball with him indoors - he kept returning to this particular rug and would wait there.

I went shopping and visited Santa Monica for the rest of the Monday. Picked up my sister at work and then we went to dinner and then to the airport to catch my flight back.

It was nice to be away for a while and not have work on the mind.

At the finish line

I can't believe it, it's here! The finish line - the project I have been working on for all this time starts up tomorrow. Part of it started this weekend with some technical difficulties but great response none-the-less. Tomorrow it all goes into effect and the users start as well. It seems like for the past few months all I have done is work on this project, about 10-12 hours a day and into the weekends. It feels good to be here. I just want it to be Tuesday - past the first day and into the second!

I am thinking of all the things I want to do once I have the project implemented and under control but the reality is that I actually have to move onto another project and get that complete in less than a month - so just more work. Maybe not as intense but still work! I sure could use a day away from work and phone calls and problems.

Going to LA mid-month for a graduation. Can't decide if I will drive or fly, if I fly, I must rent a car there. I want to spend a couple extra days there so that I am not just there for the graduation and then driving back. It's dad's 65th birthday, so there will be a celebration there with everyone. So what's a good gift for a college grad and for dad's birthday and father's day? The grad already has a job at KPMG - Smariek, any thoughts about what rookies there could use?

Check out the top of this cab - not something you see every day. I've seen it a couple of times now and every time it goes by I have to do a second take.

The weekend

I took a half day off on Friday and went to Fremont for a belated Mother's Day celebration. We were early, so we stopped by Lake Elizabeth and took a walk around the lake and park. There are a lot of ducks/geese at the lake. The weather was just perfect for being out and about - not too hot and a little breezy.
The dinner plans weren't as set as hoped and got to be difficult to get 15 people into a restaurant on Friday night without reservations. We landed up going to a chinese place which was actually pretty good.

Smariek and I went out for a bit on Saturday. Went to the mall, had a mocha frap and checked out some home improvement books (Smariek just bought a house - yeah!).

Been a vegetable for the rest of the weekend. I did however manage to finish the Bourne Identity and have started the Bourne Supremacy. I am normally a pretty fast reader but it took me a long time (2 weeks) to finish the first one - not sure if it's an indication of me being tired and slow or the book being detailed and long.

It's D's and Smariek's birthday tomorrow.

I am a Star

Actually I am not but I was on TV twice! On the government channel really so nothing to brag about just funny.

All the public meetings at City Hall are aired on Channel 26 and apparently re-aired again at a later date. I had a presentation the taxi commission last month. This was my second presentation, and both times I have had someone come back to me later and comment on seeing me on TV. Today I called to make a hair cutting appointment and the stylist told me she saw me on TV, at first she said I was in court and I was sure she was thinking I was someone else, then she said something about a hearing and eventually it dawned on me that she was referring to the taxi commission presentation I did. Pretty embarassing and funny at the same time.

I will be happy to go back to the norm of being just a face in the crowd at the airport with the taxi drivers and everyone else.

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Summer movies I want to see

Keeping track of movies coming out this Summer that I want to see at some point.

1. Spiderman 3
2. Pirates of the Caribbean 3
3. Harry Potter, The Order of the Phoenix
4. Shrek 3
5. Live Free or Die Hard
6. The Bourne Ultimatum

That's a long list for me..... looks like it will be a good (I hope) summer movie season.

San Francisco

It's been a while since I've been to the City and spent any kind of time looking around. I had a chance to do that yesterday. I was planning on taking the day off but also wanted to get some paper work finished, so I offered to meet in San Francisco to pick up the paper work from the other party. I didn't leave as early as I had hoped but nevertheless had time to peruse.

I took BART in and went to the new Westfield Shopping Center - which is entirely too overwhelming for me. I took my time looking around and then went to the Embarcadero as that's where I had to go to pick-up the paper work. I was early, so I walked over to the ferry building. It was an overcast day but pleasant enough to walk around.

The downtown area sure has changed since I worked there (late 80s, early 90s). So much nicer now.

There is a statue of Mahatma Gandhi behind the ferry building, odd to have a statue of an Indian politician in San Francisco.... It's been there since 1988 and I've never seen it before! I guess I never went past the Embarcadero.

The person I was meeting was running late which allowed for a walk around the Embarcadero and the Hyatt.

I met up with the person and we had a very nice lunch at 1 Market. Must go back there again. I had a ham and cheese sandwich, which was exellent and it came with the best onion rings I've ever had.

I am about half way through the Bourne Identity. It's really quite a bit different from the movie. I have mixed feelings about the character in the book but in the movie he was very likable.

What I've been up to....

I guess it was wishful thinking on my part that once the testing on my project was done that my involvement would lessen. When I was typing up the results of the test, I realized that I wasn't quite done yet and probably had another month's worth of work or more. But it's a bit better with the work loads, just the normal level of business although I am still working at good 11-12 hour day. Need to work on getting it back to 8 hours.

My dad is in town and my sister visited from Los Angeles this past weekend. Spent Saturday at a birthday party and Sunday lunch with the family and an afternoon with the cousins gossiping over Jamba juice. We were having fun talking about how each of us has had the opportunity at being the black sheep of the family and how when it's the youngests cousin's turn that there will be nothing scandalous left to be a black sheep about.

What else has been up - gave a presentation at the Taxi Commission on the project - it was held at City Hall with two 54" televisions in the meeting room. It was also aired on SF channel 26. A bit intimidating really but it went alright. Also had 2 other presentations to management on signage and the taxi project. Good to have all those out of the way and the stress over with. While the one at City Hall was intimidating, I think the one for the airport management was even more so.

The weather has been hot - much too hot for my taste but the fog rolled in today.

I am finally getting around to reading The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum, been wanting to read that for a while now and picked it up at the library.

Finally the end of the tunnel

I have been working on a project at work for some time now and it's finally coming to completion. If you may recall, I took a trip to Europe in December for the testing of the equipment, well, it was all installed last week. Between the construction, the equipment install and now the training and testing, it's been non stop.

I can't believe that I am so close to being finished. Just the a few details really and getting the new users oriented and using the new system - which falls on someone else - I play a minor supporting role.

I hope to be spending more time on fun things soon.

My creation

My creation
Originally uploaded by purple phoenix.

Look what I did with flickr toys.

He he - Happy Easter!

At least it's not Slytherin

I'm
a Ravenclaw!

Knitting get together

We had a knitters get together at work and I asked Smariek to join us. Some of us wanted to learn to knit with two circs and she's just so good at it. She brough little M along. I picked up a bunny treat from the bakery for Little M and here she is enjoying it. I love how she's just looking at me, her expressions are just like her mom. Love the sun glasses and cap - such a doll.

The second picture is of all the projects that people brought to share - many of them cap karma caps.

I've been spending a lot of time viewing photos on flickr - it's a great photo sharing site, in fact my photo badge is on the right side - click on it to see the photos I've got there. I've found interesting groups sharing photos of common interests, including cats "gatti, gattini, gattoni". Also found an incredibly handsome kitty living a great life, assuming in Sweden, followed around by an incredibly talented photographer - check out their photos.

The last photo is Milo, sitting still for a change.

Funny!!

Posting these here just in case I need a good laugh. The calculus problem I can relate to...

I don't think that's right....

You Are 35% Left Brained, 65% Right Brained

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning. Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others. If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic. Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet. The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility. Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way. If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art. Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

Are You Right or Left Brained?

Recovering

I am just getting over the flu - it started with the chills and aches last Thursday and now I have laryngitis. It's been a bit comical really, started with the flu on Thursday, a rash on my arm on Saturday, pink eye on Sunday and laryngitis as of yesterday. I wonder what is next....

I recently went to the Home and Garden show at the San Mateo expo center, my aunt had free tickets. Nothing terribly exciting there, just checking out what's new and get ideas for home projects. The little garden vignettes are always nice to see but they didn't compare to the Flower and Garden show at the Cow Palace. I bought an orchid there - it's got sprays of tiny little flowers - need to take a picture to post here. Found some nice slate tile that might be nice for the fire place. The fire place is red brick from hearth to ceiling and we want to face that with slate on the bottom and drywall on the top and put up a mantel. The slate I liked was more of a panel than a tile really and it gives the look of different size slate bricks next to each other - not explaining that too well, am I?

Normal level of headaches at work - personalities, projects, yada yada yada.

Who comes up with this stuff?

Me, level headed?? Heart on my sleeve is about right.

Your Brain is 60% Female, 40% Male

Your brain is a healthy mix of male and female You are both sensitive and savvy Rational and reasonable, you tend to keep level headed But you also tend to wear your heart on your sleeve

What Gender Is Your Brain?

I am Hobbs! Like S!

Which famous feline are you?

You're Hobbes. First of all, the makers of this quiz would like to congratulate you. You have our seal of approval. You are kind, intelligent, loving, and good-humoredly practical. You're proud of who you are. At the same time, you're tolerant of those who lack your clearsightedness. You're always playful, but never annoying. For these traits, you are well-loved, and with good cause.
Take this quiz!

You Are Italian Food

Comforting yet overwhelming. People love you, but sometimes you're just too much.

What Kind of Food Are You?

I am a Canna

I am a Canna What Flower Are You?

"You stand up for what you believe in, even if it gets in the way of what other people think. You are proud of yourself and your accomplishments and you enjoy letting people know that."